The heat exchange system as herein described is useful in conjunction with any continuous retorting apparatus in order to control the particular heat transfer fluids used within that apparatus. Nevertheless, the system is especially suited and described with reference to the retorting apparatus described in International (PCT) Patent Application No. PCT/GB08/01146. In order to improve the functioning of a retorting apparatus, the invention described in PCT/GB08/01146 utilises a plurality of enclosed volumes, each separately sealable from other volumes, the product moving serially from one volume to another.
With increasing energy prices and also a desire to reduce so-called greenhouse emissions, minimising energy wastage is increasingly important. Prior art batch retorts are not on the whole energy efficient, and the ineffective usage of the energy in the heating fluids results in a large amount of energy and water being wasted.
Continuous retorts can be significantly more energy efficient, but have failed to become commercially acceptable due principally to excessive complexity, size and cost compared to existing batch retorts.
The present invention therefore seeks to address the above problems and produce a retorting apparatus incorporating a heat exchange system which provides optimised energy usage as well as providing the means of transporting the product through the retort, thereby significantly reducing the complexity and cost of the retort.